As of today, January 23rd, we are four days away from Disneyland's celebration of Disney100. The other Disney Parks will commence their celebration of Disney100 at different points within the year. However, since The Walt Disney Company began in California, it only makes sense for them to begin the celebration!
What Disney100 fun can I expect to find at Disney California Adventure Park starting January 27th?
- Lots of Disney100 merchandise from popcorn buckets to tumblers to ears to clothing to even straw clips! There will be a Disney100 merchandise/souvenir item for everyone
- Tons of Disney100-inspired food and beverages like a Disney100 cocktail, French Onion dipped pizza, shakes, cakes, and many more new items! We are going to have to hope that Disney calories don't count 😅
- A new nighttime show named World of Color - One
For more information about Disney100 at Disneyland Park, check out the previous week's blog post here!
What regular Disney fun is there at Disney California Adventure Park?
This park consists of 8 different areas: Buena Vista Street, Hollywood Land, Avengers Campus, Cars Land, Pacific Wharf, Pixar Pier, Paradise Gardens Park, and Grizzly Peak. My favorite land was Cars Land since I'm obsessed with the movie Cars. However, Avengers Campus was AMAZING, and being in Pixar Pier was a dream come true!
Buena Vista Street
This area is the beginning of Disney California Adventure Park, where you can find lockers, restrooms, gift shops, and a Red Car Trolley. We found the first shop on the left to be the most helpful as we found they had medicine for purchase when I had a pounding headache. We also found the Shoulder Sitting Groots at this shop, although everywhere else we asked said they were sold out. So, if you require medicine or a souvenir, these shops are the best and closest to the park entrance/exit!
Hollywood Land
The Red Car Trolley takes you from Buena Vista Steet down to Hollywood Land and has two stops: Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. Our favorite parts of this area were Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! and the Disney Animation Building. Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! was a delightful slow ride that we had never experienced before, and it felt like we were in the movie. At the end of the ride, they have Roz, and we are pretty sure someone is behind a wall controlling her as she spoke to us personally about wanting to borrow our glasses. We thought it was the coolest part of the ride, and reminded us of Laugh Floor back in Disney World (DW)'s Magic Kingdom.
Moreover, the Disney Animation Building housed Animation Academy, Sorcerer’s Workshop, and Turtle Talk with Crush. In the middle of these experiences is the indoor Animation Courtyard - a room full of enormous screens illustrating how the Animators turn these characters from pencil to pixel. The Animation Academy allows you to draw Disney characters with an Animator! DW's Animal Kingdom has a similar experience, but, it seems like, you are always drawing the same characters. At the Animation Academy, you sketch someone new every session, and on our visit, we drew Mirabel from Encanto! The Sorcerer’s Workshop was a hidden gem that allowed you to explore the Magic Mirror Realm and the Beast's secret library. Lastly, Turtle Talk with Crush is similar to the one at DW's Epcot; however, the West Coast Crush is WAYYY funnier than the East Coast Crush. It is a must-do experience!
Avengers Campus
The best part about Disney, in general, is how they transport you to the land you are visiting. Avengers Campus is so immersive - it feels like you are truly at their Headquarters. As mentioned in last week's blog post, Disneyland is good at having its characters roam freely. It makes the Avengers Campus surreal as at any point in time you could have Black Panther, Ms. Marvel, or Thor walk by you!
The COOLEST part of Avengers Campus is the Spiderman area. One of the features is having Spiderman perform on top of the WEB SLINGERS building - he even does a flip from one part of the building to the other. The second feature is the ride itself, WEB SLINGERS the concept is to gather all the robot spiders that escaped with webs that come out of your hands - talk about a workout!
Cars Land
As mentioned before, I am a gigantic fan of the movie Cars. Growing up, my brother had us watch the movie 100 times, and I grew an immense love and appreciation for it and its characters. Once I learned that Disneyland was getting a Cars Land, I was immediately envious and could not wait to go and explore it myself.
Just like Avengers Campus, Disney did a great job in making me feel like I was on Route 66 driving over to get a fill-up at Flo's V8 Cafe, which in fact has delicious food on its menu. We loved the Fried Chicken Meal and Turkey Sandwich, and the view from the back of the restaurant was breathtaking, pictured above!
I will admit not everything was perfect when we visited Cars Land on our trip. The first day there, the ride I wanted to go on most, Radiator Springs Racers, was down since one of the vehicles had caught on fire the week and a half before, unlike Disney. But like Disney, they took forever to get it back running, and not until our LAST day at the parks did it come back up, so two weeks later. Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters was also down at various times while we were there. However, this technology is newer to Disney, and I have seen them have trouble with it across the board on all the rides that host it.
On the other hand, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree was always running, and we preferred it over DW's Hollywood Studios' Alien Swirling Saucers. One of my favorite moments in Cars Land was meeting and taking pictures with Lightning McQueen, Mater, and Cruz. DREAM COME TRUE! Around sunset, the neon lights flicker on, and the song Sh-Boom (Life could be a Dream) plays - just like in the movie!
Pacific Wharf
This area is home to The Bakery Tour, where you will see Disney Bakers baking sourdough bread bowls and other items for the parks. It is also a waterfront area with a few food stands for Asian food, Mexican food, pretzels, sundaes, and more. However, Disneyland is working on creating this area into San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6.
Pixar Pier
This area is home to various Pixar movie-themed rides like Toy Story Midway Mania!, Jessie’s Critter Carousel, and Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind. Most importantly, it is the home of the world-famous Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel, also known as Pixar Pal-A-Round - Swinging or Non-Swinging. I went on the Non-Swinging portion, and Matthew went on the Swinging part. I only have to say two things for you all to get the picture: 1) I laughed a lot at Matthew, and 2) there were barf bags in his Ferris Wheel container. The other ride at Pixar Pier is Incredicoaster and Matthew loved that ride - it was his favorite thrill ride at Disneyland!
Paradise Gardens Park
This area reminded me of a Carnival with the rides they had. For instance, they had Silly Symphony Swings similar to a YO-YO at a carnival. This area also has The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, quite like the one at DW's Magic Kingdom. My favorite part about Paradise Gardens Park was meeting Mirabel from Encanto!
Grizzly Peak
This part connects with Disney's Grand Californian, which is perfect since they have similar themes! Grizzly Peak is home to Redwood Creek Challenge Trial, partially inspired by Raya and the Last Dragon. The fascinating part about this area is that at the highest point, you can peek over to see the Grand Californian's pool/water slides. You will also find Grizzly River Run and Soarin’ Around the World in this area both similar to their Disney World equivalents but still a great time to immerse yourself in the Disney magic!
Well, everybody, that's our blog!
Although we will not physically be at Disneyland on January 27th, we will be there in Disney spirit. However, make sure to Subscribe to our Website and Follow Us on Social Media to be one of the first to know when we are there and what other adventures we take throughout the year! Are you planning on visiting Disney California Adventure Park for Disney100? Make sure to let us know in the comments below. When you go, make sure to share your experience on social media and tag us on our Dale, Let's Travel! pages. Speaking of social media... don't forget to follow us! 😊
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